The Great Debate (India)

India v Pakistan: Who will win?

Nothing gets bigger in this part of the globe than a cricket match featuring India and Pakistan. The rivalry would be renewed in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final in Mohali in Punjab.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani will watch the match in what is billed as “cricket diplomacy”.

According to a newspaper report, airport authorities have received requests from business tycoons, including Mukesh Ambani and fellow industrialist Vijay Mallya, to allow them to park their private jets in Chandigarh.

While politicians and Bollywood celebrities will also be in tow, there is a growing sense of anger among the ticket-seeking fans who complained of large-scale black-marketing.

How important is this “mother of all cricket contests”? Who do you think will win? Share your views.

COLUMN – Karun Chandhok: Flat out off track

The British Grand Prix weekend has always been one of my favourites. Ever since I raced here in the GP support race in Formula 3, it’s always been a weekend I’ve looked forward to — great crowd, great circuit, fantastic atmosphere and I get to stay in my own bed.

But being my adopted home race makes it a really busy weekend for me off track. The weekend really started on Wednesday itself this time. I promised the catering guys and also some of the guys in the team that I would bring them real home-cooked curry for lunch when they came to England and on Wednesday I did just that.

It was borderline spicy for a lot of people but everyone seemed to enjoy it – Sakon even asked me to write down the recipe for him. I spent Wednesday afternoon cycling around the circuit. Despite all the noise about the “new” circuit, to me it really wasn’t a big deal — three new corners really doesn’t make a “new circuit” but it was still nice to spend a couple hours pedalling around.

The wind was ridiculously strong which made pedalling around hard work and gave me an idea of just what it would be like in a super aero-sensitive machine such as a Formula 1 car.

Traditionally, on the Wednesday before the British Grand Prix, I always take my team out for a “thanks for the hard work” meal to my local Indian restaurant ‘The Khushboo’ where they get to try the “Karun’s special”. It was a great evening with lots of old stories from the guys about the drivers and teams they’ve worked with in the past.

Thursday started bright and early with a trip to our engine partners Cosworth. I’ve been to their facilities before but it’s still nice to go there and meet with all the guys working flat out in the background for us.

We had a good chance to show some of the media around the factory and even show them what an engine looks like on a dyno which is pretty cool. I was most amused by a double-decker bus parked outside and promptly jumped into the driver’s seat and started to have a look around his “cockpit” when the driver appeared out of nowhere looking a bit surprised.

Was Michael Jackson greatest entertainer ever?

The music world, the Jackson family and thousands of fans bade farewell to Michael Jackson at a public memorial on Tuesday.

“The more I think about Michael, and talk about Michael, the more I think that ‘King of Pop’ is not good enough,” said Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, who signed The Jackson 5 in 1968.

“I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived.”

Here’s your chance to pay your final tributes to Michael Jackson.